20010635 Ver 1_Approval Letter Draft_20030327

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X XX, 2003
Mr. William A. Banks
Mountain Air Development Company
Phipp's Creek Road
Burnesville, NC 28714
Dear Mr. Banks:
Re: Bank's Creek Development, Nine Hole Golf Course, Yancey County, North Carolina
DWQ Project No. 01-0635; DOA Action ID No. 200130673
Attached hereto is a copy of Certification No. 3390 issued to Mr. William A. Banks, dated X XX, 2003.
If we can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Alan W. Klimek, P.E.
AW K/tsj
Attachments
010635
cc: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Asheville Regulatory Field Office
DWQ, Raleigh Regional Office -Mike Parker
File Copy
Central Files
Mell Nevils, Division of Land Resources
Mona O'Bryant, Smith Moore LLP, PO Box 21927, Greensboro, NC 27420
N. C. Division of Water Quality 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1617 [phone]
Michael F. Easley, Governor
William G. Ross Jr., Secretary
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
V , '~~' Alan W. Klimek, P.E. Director
Division of Water Quality
~~
Customer Service
1 800 623-7748

NORTH CAROLINA 401 WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION
THIS CERTIFICATION is issued in conformity with the requirements of Section 401 Public Laws 92-500 and 95-217
of the United States and subject to the North Carolina Division of Water Quality (DWQ) Regulations in 15 NCAC 2H,
Section .0500 to the Mr. William A. Banks, resulting in the discharge of fill into 0.25 acres of jurisdictional wetlands and
1,965 linear feet of unnamed perennial tributaries to Banks Creek associated with the construction of a nine hole golf
course at the Banks Creek Development, Mountain Air Golf Course Development in Yancey County, North Carolina,
pursuant to an application filed on 20th day of April of 2001 and amended September 24, 2001, October 16, 2001,
January 30, 2002, March 18, 2002, April 2, 2002, and June 26, 2002. The application and amendments also included a
proposal to restore approximately 1975 feet of Indian Creek for compensatory mitigation for the proposed stream impacts.
The application provides adequate assurance that the proposed work will not result in a violation of applicable Water
Quality Standards and discharge guidelines. Therefore, the State of North Carolina certifies that this activity will not violate
the applicable portions of Sections 301, 302, 303, 306, 307 of PL 92-500 and PL 95-217 if conducted in accordance with the
application and conditions hereinafter set forth.
This approval is only valid for the purpose and design that you submitted (and modified) in your application on 20th
day of April of 2001 and amended September 24, 2001, October 16, 2001, January 30, 2002, March 18, 2002, April 2,
2002, and June 26, 2002, and as conditioned below. fly©u-cha+~ge-your-~rajeEt--you r~a~+
ap$1iGatian-for-a-new sertifisat+sr~ If the property is sold, you must notify the Division, and the new owner must be given a
copy of the Certification and approval letter, and is thereby responsible for complying with all conditions. Should wetland
or stream fill be requested in the future, additional compensatory mitigation may be required as described in 15A NCAC
2H .0506 (h) (6) and (7). For this approval to be valid, you must follow the conditions listed below. In addition, you should
get any other federal, state or local permits before you go ahead with your project including (but not limited to) Solid
Waste, Sediment and Erosion control, Coastal Stormwater, Non-discharge and Water Supply Watershed regulations. If
any plan revisions from the approved site plan result in a change in stream or wetland impact or an increase in impervious
surfaces, the DWQ must be notified in writing and a new application for 401 Certification may be required.
Conditions of Certification:
1. Appropriate sediment and erosion control practices in order to assure compliance with the appropriate turbidity water
quality standard of 10 NTUs must be implemented:
a) The approval for the stream impacts is contingent upon the approval by the Division of Land Resources to disturb
trout buffers. If the Division of Land Resources does not issue an approval to disturb trout buffers, then impacts to
those streams (including but not limited to stream relocations) within the protected trout buffers shall not be
allowed. If the Division of Land Resources allows some buffers to be disturbed but not others, then only the
streams within the buffers approved for disturbance by the Division of Land Resources and approved for impact
by this Certification may be impacted.
b) The trout waters turbidity standard of 10 NTUs must be adhered to at all times. If the back ground turbidity is
greater than 10 NTUs, background turbidity must be documented and there shall be no increase in turbidity from
the activity of 10 NTUs above the documented background. As part of the requirement to comply with the turbidity
standard the following practices at a minimum must be implemented (Other practices in addition to those listed
here may be necessary to comply with the turbidity standard and, if needed must be implemented by the
applicant.):
i) All concentrated runoff must discharge into a sediment basin equipped with an adequate skimming device
and designed for 3600 cubic feet of storage per acre. Sediment traps are acceptable in lieu of sediment
basins if
A) the sediment trap is adequately sized and the tributary drainage area is less than 2 acres;
B) the sediment trap is inspected immediately after every rain event and sediment is immediately removed
as soon as the trap is more than 25% full of sediment. A measuring rod or stake must be placed in the
center of the trap that is marked at the 25% full elevation level;
C) appropriate PAM logs shall be anchored and maintained, according to the manufacturer's specifications,
at the inlet of each trap;
D) baffles are used in each trap; and
E) ground cover is established as specified below;
ii) staff must be specified, onsite and trained to conduct the above maintenance and inspection activities.
Additionally, the crew must maintain inspection logs that must be posted onsite in a specified location for
review by DENR staff to ensure that the above requirements at a minimum are being met.
iii) Ground cover shall be established on all cleared areas within 7 calendar days of completion of clearing within
24 hours of the completion of grading. However, if the grading is continuous and has not been completed
within 7 days of clearing, then ground cover shall be established within 2 calendar days of the completion of

the grading. All seed bed preparation, seeding, and mulching shall be conducted according to the erosion and
sedimentation control plan approved by the Division of Land Resources. Approved netting based on the
manufacturer's specifications or similar cover shall be used on all slopes. Approved matting based on the
manufacturer's specifications shall be used for all road shoulders and ditches. In areas where straw is
applied, it must be applied at a rate of at feast 4000 Ibs of straw per acre and adequately tacked. Sod may be
used in lieu of the above ground covers. The applicant shall make all reasonable efforts to assure survival of
groundcover vegetation.
iv) All disturbed surfaces within 50 feet of a stream shall be covered no later than 48 hours of the completion of
clearing. However, if the grading is continuous and has not been completed within 48 hours of clearing, then
ground cover shall be established within 24 hours of the completion of the grading.
v) Concentrated discharges into filter strips or protected buffers shall be made to flow in a diffuse manner
throughout the entire filter strip or buffer. This may be achieved using level spreaders on slopes of less than
6% or, on steeper slopes, by using hand dug contour berms overlain with erosion control fabric at intervals of
10 feet perpendicular to the flow. Both ends of each berm shall be turned up slope for a distance necessary to
cover one vertical foot of contour to prevent bypasses.
vi) Construction must be conducted in phases according to the erosion and sediment control plans approved by
the Division of Land Resources. Each phase shall be completely stabilized before construction can begin in
the next phase. When any material is added to or removed from a stockpile, it must be covered or stabilized
within 48 hours.
vii) All materials required for stabilization of each phase shall be on site before land disturbance within that phase
begins. Materials required for stabilization of each phase shall be on site prior to such time that such materials
are needed.
viii) A monitoring plan for stability of the remaining streams and wetlands downstream of the project site to the
property boundary must be approved in writing by this Office before any of the impacts approved in this
Certification occur. If the streams and/or wetlands develop indications of instability, including but not limited to
stream bed aggradation or degradation and/or stream bank erosion or failure, as determined by Division of
Water Quality then a remedial action plan must be developed within 90 days of the determination. The
remedial action plan must be approved in writing by this Office and implemented within 90 days of the receipt
of the written approval.
ix) A tree removal plan must be provided for written approval from this Office before any of the impacts approved
in this Certification are conducted. The plan must include a process to identify and remove trees along
streams at fairway crossings. The goals are to maintain adequate vegetation in order to maintain the
temperature standard and to prevent damage to the streams from dropping trees.
x) In-stream turbidity control measures other than sediment basins and traps such as PAM mats are allowed if
required by the Division of Land Resources.
2. DWQ's Asheville Regional Office shall be notified in writing and hand delivered to DWQ at least two (2) days before
any pipe is to be installed or streams diverted on the property. Adequate access for sampling must be provided to
DWQ upon request. DWQ will attempt to notify on-site personnel upon its arrival at the
site and will attempt to provide an opportunity for Mountain Air to split samples;
3. All sediment and erosion control measures placed in wetlands and waters shall be removed and the original grade
restored within twenty-one days after the Division of Land Resources has released the project;
4. Measures shall be taken to prevent live or fresh concrete from coming into contact with waters of the state until the
concrete has hardened;
5. All stormwater from tees greens and fairways shall be directed to the permanent stormwater management facilities as
described in the application. The stormwater management facilities and in-stream plunge pools proposed in the
application shall be designed to protect water quality by controlling dissolved pollutants, temperature and discharge.
The stormwater management plan shall include an operation and maintenance agreement that must be implemented.
Also, before the golf course is opened for use, the facilities (as approved by this Office) shall be constructed and
operational, and the stormwater management plan (as approved by this Office) shall be implemented. The structural
stormwater practices as approved by this Office as well as drainage patterns must be maintained in perpetuity. No
changes to the structural stormwater practices shall be made without written authorization from the Division of Water
Quality.
6. Waste or borrow sites shall not be located in streams or wetlands;
7. All temporary fill shall be removed to the original grade after construction is complete and the site shall be stabilized to
prevent erosion;
8. A final, compensatory stream mitigation plan must be provided as described in your application for the proposed
impacts as specified in the table below. The final compensatory mitigation plan must be approved in writing by this
Office before any of the impacts approved herein are conducted. The compensatory mitigation sites shall be
preserved in perpetuity with easements held by a third party(s). Additionally, the compensatory mitigation must be

completely constructed and implemented according to the plans approved by this Office before the golf course is
opened for use. The mitigation must be maintained according to the approved plan. Any repairs or adjustments to the
mitigation site must be made according to the approved plan or must receive written approval from this Office to make
the repairs or adjustments.
Com ensator Miti ation Credit Re uired
Stream 1965 feet
9. Provided condition 1(a) is met, in-stream work and land disturbance within 25-feet of any stream is prohibited during
the trout spawning season of October 15 through April 15, or as otherwise approved by DWQ in writing after review
and comment determined by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, to protect the egg and fry stages of
trout from sedimentation during construction.
10. The enclosed "Certification of Completion Form" is to be used to notify DWQ when all work included in the 401
Certification has been completed.
Violations of any condition herein set forth shall may result in revocation of this Certification and may result in criminal
and/or civil penalties. This Certification shall expire on expiration of the 404 Permit.
If this Certification is unacceptable to you, you have the right to an adjudicatory hearing upon written request within
sixty (60) days following receipt of this Certification. This request must be in the form of a written petition conforming to
Chapter 1508 of the North Carolina General Statutes and filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings, 6714 Mail
Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-6714. If modifications are made to an original Certification, you have the right to an
adjudicatory hearing on the modifications upon written request within sixty (60) days following receipt of the Certification.
Unless such demands are made, this Certification shall be final and binding.
This the XX~h day of X, 2003
DIVISION OF WATER QUALITY
Alan W. Klimek, P.E.
WQC # 3390
AW K/tsj